Queen Victoria (1819-1901)

1. Reign : 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901 (63 years & 7 months)

2. Last British Monarch from House of Hanover

3. World's first postage stamp - Penny Black, was issued in the UK on 1st May 1840, with the portrait of Queen Victoria.

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Dynasties:

Saxon
Viking
Normandy (1066-1141)
Plantagenet (1154-1485)
Tudor (1485-1603)
Stuart (1603-1714)
Hanover (1714-1901)
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1901-1917)
Windsor (1917-now)

Serie: "Für den Sport"

Covers with 2 stamps above and 2 stamps below were sent to me by Igor Adolph. Danke schön, Igor! These stamps are from the series of "Für den Sport" (or "For the Sports").

The 2 charity stamps above were issued on 8 April 2010 to commemorate
- 55+25 cents: FIFA World Cup in South Africa (11 Jun-11 Jul 2010)
- 145+55 cents: Ice hockey World Championship in Germany (7-23 May 2010)






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The 2 charity stamps above were issued on 11 Feb 2010 to commemorate
- 45+20 cents: Winter-Paralympics in Vancouver (12-21 Mar 2010)
- 55+25 cents: Winter-Olympics in Vancouver (12-28 Feb 2010)

Other related blog: covercity

Expo 2010 Shanghai (Part II)

A pleasant surprise today to receive a registered cover of Expo 2010 Shanghai. Thank you very much Zhoufan for remembering me ;-)

This single stamp in complete set was issued on May 1st in conjunction with the opening ceremony of Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The cover was sent from Zhouning, in Fujian province, Zhoufan's hometown.

Cover from the States

The above cover was sent by member from Cover Collectors Circuit Club (CCCC). Thanks, Richard L. Beecher from Blaine, State of Washington :-)

The 2 stamps on the right, with face value 29 cents each was issued in 1993 (on Circus) in a set of 4 stamps, as shown below whereas the other 40 cents stamp was issued 1999 (on Rio Grande) with single stamp in a set.

The Rio Grande (known as Río Bravo del Norte or Río Bravo, in Mexico) is a river that forms part of the border between the United States and Mexico. At 1,885 miles (3,034 km) long, it serves as a natural boundary along the border between the American state of Texas and Mexico.

Richard had also attached the cover of newsletters as shown below, with New Year Greeting from Renate Thompson (Managing & Membership Director of CCCC, Email: bandart@bellsouth.net) and write-up on Antverpia 2010 by Holger. For those of you who are keen on becoming CCCC member, you may like to contact Renate.

Cover from Venezuela

I'm thrilled to receive the above cover today, being my first cover from Venezuela. It is rare for me to receive covers from South America, Central America or Africa continents. So all covers from countries of these continents are welcomed :-)

This cover was sent from Valencia, Venezuela on 15 Mar 2010, and it took almost 2 months to arrive here. Thank God that it arrived. It is better late than never to receive it. Muchas gracias, Eduardo :-)

There are 2 stamps on the cover. I did not get much info about the stamp on the right, only knew that it was issued in 1983, from the stamp itself. The stamp on the left was issued in 2006, from Children's painting on Francisco de Miranda - a Venezuelan revolutionary who successfully liberated a vast portion of South America during the Spanish American wars of independence. The complete set of 10 stamps is shown on the stamp sheet below.

Kelip-Kelip of Malaysia

melRAKYAT of Malaysia

Thanks KKKhor for this melRAKYAT, mailed on 29 Apr, from Ipoh.

melRAKYAT (or "Mail of the People") is Malaysia's domestic aerogramme, which was started selling at all main post offices from 26 Apr 2010 and all other post offices from 3 May 2010. The above is a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) put up by POS Malaysia at the post offices regarding melRAKYAT. It is however only written in Malay.

Singapore Aerogramme : Scenes of Singapore # 3 of 4

Postcard from Cuba

Thanks Xu Wei for this nice postcard, sent from Cuba :-)
Xu Wei, who loves travelling, had been to many places, such as UN Vienna, Vietnam, Malaysia and Hungary as shown on the card.

Sisi - Austria EXPO Shanghai 2010

I was lucky to receive this beautiful cover from Edna, sent on 30 Apr, from Vienna. Thanks for remembering me ;-)

This minisheet was issued in conjunction with the opening of World Expo 2010 in Shanghai and Austria's participation in it. The motif shows one of Vienna most famous landmarks, "Schloss Schönbrunn" (Schönbrunn Palace), together with a portrait of "Kaiserin Elisabeth" (Empress Elisabeth), nickname Sisi. The beautiful portrait of Empress Elisabeth, with diamond stars in her hair, was drawn by Franz Xaver Winterhalter in 1865.

Note the beautiful first day cancellation with the chinese word "世", indicating World Expo ("世博会").

The other stamp on the left of cover was issued in 2002 from a set of 5 stamps.







Austria is represented at Shanghai with an extensive business programmes. Among the exhibitors in Shanghai will be the Austrian Post.

You may take a look at the Austrian Pavilion in World Expo 2010 here.

Expo 2010 Shanghai (Part I)

Expo 2008 Zaragoza

Thanks Tomislav for the above cover sent from Nedelišće, Croatia.

The minisheet was issued in conjunction with Expo 2008, held in Zaragoza, Spain, from 14 June till 14 September 2008, with the theme of "Water and Sustainable Development".

Year of Tiger (China)

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Thanks Wangjiayi for the above cover, sent from Huqiu (虎丘, or Tiger Hill) in Suzhou, Jiangsu province on the day of issue (5 Jan 2010).

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The year 2010 marks the reign of the Tiger and the third animal in the Zodiac series on the Chinese calendar. It is the Year of Gengyin (庚寅年, or Metal Tiger year) based on Tiangan Dizhi (天干地支, or Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches). This affectionate, generous and attractive animal is depicted on this stamp.

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Note the very beautiful cancellation with black and red ink.
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The wordings in black ink "《庚寅年》生肖邮票首发纪念" mean Zodiac Stamp First Day of Issue Commemoration.

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The wording in red ink, on the left of the standing tiger means "Tiger"(草书虎字). It is a different way of writing "Hu" or tiger in Chinese calligaphy, not the standard way.

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For your information, China Post had started issuing Zodiac series since 1980 (Year of Monkey). This is the third time that China Post issues Year of Tiger stamps after 1986 and 1998, as shown below.

* 1986

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* 1998

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The other two stamps (Y1.10, Y2.00) are definitive stamps, issued in 1986.

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Another two stamps (Y0.40, Y0.80) are definitive stamps, issued in 2006 and 2002 respectively.

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Chilean Pesos ...

* Obverse

* Reverse


The obverse designs of Chilean 5 and 10 Pesos coins showed the portrait of Bernardo O'Higgins, a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence.

Introduced since 1990, Chilean coins currently in circulation are in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 Pesos.

An awesome cover from UN Vienna ...

Thanks Edna for the awesome cover sent from Vienna International Centre!

On 15 April 2010, all three UN Offices in New York, Geneva and Vienna issued stamps on "Endangered Species 2010". View the stamps' info here (Vienna), here (Geneva) and here (NY).

On the same day, the "International Year of Biodiversity" definitive stamps were issued (only in UN Geneva & UN Vienna). View the stamps' info here (Vienna) and here (Geneva).

F.s. 1,60 A species of arachnid
F.s. 1,90 A species of starfish
€ 0,05 A species of Hydrodictyaceae (colonial algae) - on cover
€ 0,20 A species of boxfish (Ostraciidae) - on cover

FDC Old Austria: Prague

The FDC above was sent to me by Florian. Danke schön, Florian!

The history of Prague (capital of Czech Republic today) dates back to the Palaeolithic era, the Prague basin being one of the most densely populated regions of Bohemia throughout the prehistoric period.

In the 13th century, King Wenceslas I raised Prague to the status of a town, and his son Premysl Ottokar II founded the first Prague New Town, known today as Malá Strana. Under Emperor Karl IV and his son Wenceslas IV, the town flourished as the imperial residence of the Holy Roman Empire. Read more here.

Salon Philatélique de Printemps 2010

The "Salon Philatélique de Printemps" (Spring Philatelic Exhibition, 23-25 April 2010) was held in Colmar, a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace region in north-eastern France.

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Merci beaucoup David Jastrzebski pour ce courrier de Colmar :-)

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For information, Metropolitan France is divided into 22 regions, which are further sub-divided into 96 départements. Every part of France has its own culture, character, cuisine and history.